Regions like the Sun Belt have experienced a construction boom<\/a>, and, in turn, a drop in prices due to more inventory \u2014 but for coastal cities, that hasn’t quite been the case. <\/p>\n “The US built more new units in 2024 than any year in the past half-century, but that boom largely bypassed the Northeast and coastal California, which is exactly why rental competition there is so intense,” Zillow senior economist Kara Ng said. <\/p>\n Zillow ranked the hottest rental markets heading into the summer by looking at metros where rents increased quickly, vacancies dropped, and rental concessions \u2014 like waived fees or a month free off the rent \u2014 were rarely offered. <\/p>\n It shouldn’t come as a surprise that big cities like New York<\/a> and San Francisco<\/a> are regularly the busiest rental markets in the country; vacancies are low, and rents are climbing<\/a>. However, Zillow found that<\/a> one Northeastern city with a population that’s roughly 2% of New York City’s took the cake for hottest market: Providence, Rhode Island. <\/p>\n “In Zillow’s hottest rental markets, the math is simple: More people want to live there than there are homes to rent \u2014 whether for access to amenities, strong job markets or family ties, renters are competing over a limited supply,” Ng said. <\/p>\n Providence, Rhode Island, a city with a population of about 195,000, is small, and its size plays a factor in its ranking. It’s recently been labeled an unaffordable place<\/a> to buy a home, mainly due to its lack of housing inventory, which, in turn, can drive up rental prices<\/a>. Providence also has the lowest share of concessions in the top 10. <\/p>\n Read below to see the top 10 hottest markets for renters, according to Zillow. <\/p>\n 10. San Jose, CA <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 4.1% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 40.3% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.9% <\/p>\n 9. Virginia Beach, VA <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 4.8% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 28.8% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.1% <\/p>\n 8. Milwaukee, WI <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 4.1% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 27.5% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 3.8% <\/p>\n 7. Boston, MA <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 2.5% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 29.7% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 6.3% <\/p>\n 6. Chicago, IL <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 5.7% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 22.4% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 5.3% <\/p>\n 5. Los Angeles, CA <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 2.4% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 29.4% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.5% <\/p>\n 4. Hartford, CT <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 3.9% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 22.3% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.3% <\/p>\n 3. San Francisco, CA <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 5.4% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 33.2% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.3% <\/p>\n 2. New York, NY <\/p>\n Annual rent growth: 4.5% <\/p>\n Share of concessions: 17.8% <\/p>\n Vacancy rate forecast: 4.3% <\/p>\n 1. Providence, RI <\/p>\n<\/a> San Jose.f11photo\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Virginia Beach, Virginia.Chansak Joe\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Milwaukee.Art Wager\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Boston.Vadym Terelyuk\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Chicago.Jeremy Poland\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Los Angeles.Tverdohlib\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> Hartford, Connecticut.Michael Warren\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> San Francisco.Comezora\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
<\/a> New York.Francesco Riccardo Iacomino\/Getty Images <\/p>\n